What sustainable solutions can IT companies adopt?
At a time when sustainability is not just a trend, but a necessity, the topic also plays an important role in companies. IT companies are particularly in the spotlight. The industry is aware of its responsibility and has recognised that ecological responsibility is not only a necessity, but also an opportunity for innovation and competitiveness. ASTRUM IT is firmly committed to environmentally friendly and sustainable practices. We have firmly anchored the topic of sustainability in our corporate values and are already balancing CO2 emissions together with our partner Planted. In an interview with our colleague Matthias from the IT service team, we talked about what can be implemented in a company's IT in the area of sustainability and how we apply it at ASTRUM IT.
What specific goals does the IT department at ASTRUM IT pursue with regard to sustainability?
Matthias:
We rely on the use of 100% renewable energy to minimise our CO₂ emissions and make sure that our suppliers show an active commitment to climate protection when it comes to procurement – an approach that we understand as green procurement. We also continuously measure and track our CO₂ emissions, analyse the results and derive specific savings potential from them. We also focus on sustainability in the workplace: by providing modern technical work equipment such as laptops, monitors, docking stations, etc., every employee has the opportunity to work from home up to 100% of the time, which reduces commuting and thus saves additional emissions.
What measures have been taken to reduce the energy consumption of the IT infrastructure?
Matthias: Our data centre and IT infrastructure operate with maximum energy efficiency. With the help of the innovative KyotoCooling® technology, we reduce the need for mechanical cooling by over 90 %, which significantly improves our PUE value (Power Usage Effectiveness). This approach is complemented by the use of 80 PLUS Titanium-certified power supply units, which minimise energy losses. Intelligent power monitoring analyses energy consumption in real time, identifies inefficient usage patterns and helps to optimise resource utilisation.
How is the service life of hardware being extended and what strategies are being pursued to reuse or recycle devices?
Matthias: Another important component of our sustainability strategy is the targeted conservation of resources. We use virtualisation technologies to reduce the number of physical servers and thus reduce electronic waste. Provided there are no technical disadvantages and economic viability is still guaranteed, we are looking into the possibility of extending existing maintenance contracts for individual hardware components if necessary. In this way, we ensure that functional systems can continue to be operated efficiently without having to purchase new equipment at an early stage. This not only helps to conserve resources, but also reduces the environmental impact associated with the production and disposal of hardware.
Our server clusters have a modular design, which allows us to flexibly expand the infrastructure without having to completely replace existing systems. This not only saves resources, but also avoids downtime and reduces the cost of system expansions.
What criteria are taken into account when procuring new hardware in terms of its environmental friendliness?
Matthias: One part of our sustainability strategy is the consistent promotion of the circular economy. We return leased devices to the manufacturer at the end of their economic life to enable them to be reused or professionally recycled. We also work with specialised partner companies that professionally refurbish decommissioned hardware and prepare it for further use. Hardware that can no longer be used in regular operations is reused internally in trainee or test environments before it is finally disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner by certified recycling companies.
Thank you Matthias for the informative interview!
If you are looking for a sustainable hosting provider as part of your supply chain, please feel free to contact us at any time!
